2112

folks, romantic does not mean you got laid

what a bunch of freaks!

Does anyone know where one of the pre-JSC NASA buildings used to be? There was one somewhere on or around Telephone Rd. What I know, which may be incorrect, is that there were buildings or office space being rented at Telephone Rd., Gulfgate Mall (in the basement areas), and at UH, possibly an old KUHF building. All this was at the very begginings of NASA, pre-1964, before they broke ground at what is now Johnson Space Center. The original group of people came from a pre-NASA organization called "NACA", from Virginia if I am not mistaken. Anyone have any info on this?

The Richmond Strip died a long time ago. Downtown took over pretty much....although it has now stabalized....there used to be almost 117 clubs/bars/pubs in a 17-block area in the older historic district (Yes, I counted them). I think it has gone down a bit to around 80 to 90. Still not bad. I actually got tired of the main street scene. Mercury Room used to be nice, and then it died. Now I just go to La Carafe and Warrens - they will never change and that's what I like about it.

The one thing that I can say for sure, is that there are thousands of bars, clubs, pubs, and ice houses all over Houston. There is something practically on every other corner. Houston is what it always was, a saloon city. Most of the neigborhood pubs stick around and can be counted on for that afterwork brew on the way home.

And yes, there is the raunchy side too, sad to say, but many adult theaters, sex houses, you name it. I dont know how to feel about that, because they seem to be everywhere (you know, the "24 hour" "bath houses", "massage parlors", and "health spas"). I guess if you just stay away from all that, things are ok. I guess what I am saying is there probably is a major difference, it just seems that Dallas is way more conservative in that you dont have the raunch at every other exit like you have in Houston. I guess that comes with being a grittier, and yes, blue-collar, city. But I like grit and that non-conforming attitiude, I guess.

What is read on this forum can be partly attributed to real-life experience from many who have live here a long time. So, sarcasm aside, yes, there is some reality to the whole Dallas is snooty thingy. And Houston is defensive to some degree because, whether good or bad, Houston does receive some negativity from the nice folks up there in the northern blue yonder known as Dallas. Be that as it may, it's all good. I kinda like the different personas between the two cities. Otherwise, it would be boring. This forum nicely fills a pent up demand for us to have a place to vent. And what better way of venting than to talk about Dallas.

Wow, this thread looked promising but I guess it's met the same fate as every other thread like it.

I'm sorry but this post is ridiculous and sounds like it belongs with the rest of the trash at SSC. How about I say that 50% of Houstonians think that Dallas' pride is somehow stealing the lime light from Houston. I would only hope that at least the other 50% doesn't have this insecurity problem and realizes that there's nothing wrong with being proud of your home city. If it makes you feel better, figure out another way to build your self-esteem cause the only thing you're doing is making yourself sound like an idiot. This thread started with good intensions by lockmat...dont continue to make it go the same way as every frivolous "Dallas vs Houston" thread.

Why thank you. I wasnt trying to shoot for "ridiculous", but if I achieved that also, than thank you for noticing. I do appreciate your concern about my self-esteem, however. Really, I was just trying to have a little fun here - dont take things so seriously. I used to be that way too, and I wasnt nearly as much fun back than as I am now. So relax, I really dont think that the level of pompousness is really that high in Dallas. It's there, but maybe to assign 35% to it was a bit much. I'm sure it's much lower than 35%. And most of that really comes from the image machine that is well oiled up there - I mean you have to hand it to them, they can build an image, and Houston could learn a thing or two from them.

I'm sure the majority of the fine citizens of Dallas are down to earth, just like we are.

Your opinion of Dallas is all well and fine, but earlier, I was disagreeing with your conclusion that most people would favor Houston over Dallas as WorldlyMan did. That's all I was arguing. Like I said, I think people's preferences would probably be based more on friends and family than the cities themselves.

Now I'll address what you just posted. I think your generalization of Dallas' condescending persona is short-sighted at best. Sure, North Dallas and the Park Cities do have their share of wealthy residents, but as a lower middle class North Dallasite, I feel that attitude is not the prevalent one. If you get out and see all of Dallas beyond Uptown, the Park Cities, Preston Hollow, and other affluent neighborhoods, you'll encounter down-to-earth hard-working folks.

Plus, a great majority of the wealthy people I do know(who are aware of my family's economic status) are not snobby at all. Many rich people won't blink twice or act any differently when they realize that you live in a house about an eigth the size of theirs. Often, I'm surprised by the size of the houses people live in after getting to know them.

Now, I do admit there are some upper class people who are nasty and exclusive(as there are everywhere), but they definitely make up a minority. And if you spend enough time here, you'd realize that.

While Dallas is not predominantly blue collar, it is absolutely wrong to give it a universal pompous and arrogant personality as you do Gary.

I agree that it is not universal as you mention. But there does seem to be something there. How else could one explain the seemingly universal perception that Dallas has pompousness in it? I have heard it for over 35 years from people outside of this forum. It

Fort Worth has passed Las Vegas to be the fastest growing city (in percentage growth) in the U.S.

http://recenter.tamu.edu/tgrande/vol13-4/1790.html

Congratulations to Fort Worth!!!

Gary, Gary, Gary...

Thanks for giving us all a good laugh. How could you assume such a thing. The fact is is that very few people, yourself included I'm sure, have experienced all of what both cities have to offer. I doubt that those who have spent a good deal of time in Dallas and Houston would favor one city over the other by a wide margin. I would suspect it'd be around 50-50. Most people would probably prefer the city where they have the closest friends and where they are closer to family.

Anyhow Gary, we all know you love Houston...just don't generalize your feelings to a majority of the overall population. It doesn't add anything to the thread.

Why of course it does. Gary was simply expressing what he thinks is an objective observation. There is most definitely a different character between these two fine cities, one of them is bigger, highly diverse, international, and has more grit with an industrial feel to it, while the other one feels more polished, well planned, and properly groomed. It's just like I have said all along: Houston is a Shipley

with frijoles, come pedos and that's cause for an awkward moments.

True. But I've taken the science of "pedos" to the next level, with and inventory of techniques to mitigate just such a moment. Take the "one cheek sneak" for example, where you grab one cheek, lift it, and wha-la, no sound whatsoever. I practice this variation daily, and it has become a staple in my farting repertoire.

what kind of peas?

green peas? black eyes peas? split peas?

I'm don't like peas much. I can handle the green ones if they are swimming in salt and butter. I'm more of a "frijole" guy myself. But that's another story...

We're not right.

The editor backs up everything now to a external hard drive so it shouldnt be like last time. Does anybody got a screenshot of the old forum? i never saw it

2112 sits next to Marty, puts his arm around him, and in a conforting voice says "I know. I know. It's over now"

OK. I realize I very well may have no life for even coming up with this. But it occured to me just a minute ago that we should have a plan incase this site got rear-ended, hacked, or whatever you wanna to call it. This actually occured several years ago. I should know - I was there. And the resulting trauma left me with permanent phsychological damage. Ok, "damage" is maybe a little strong. But it was a dark phase in many of our lives. It even made the Dallas forum news, if I recall. So here is the plan, which is actually what everybody did anyways. I just thought it would be kinda weird to bring it up as a topic worth talking about, because as we all know, many of us are actually losers. Which explains why you are continuing to read this right now. And I mean that in the best possible way.

Here is our HAIF evacuation and recovery plan:

1. Log in to HAIF and notice that it doesnt work.

2. Log in again to convince yourself that it really doesnt work.

3. Begin the "denial" process by resorting to Alcoholism.

4. Attempt life in the "real world" and do the things that non-losers do on a daily basis.

5. Meanwhile, "editor" is frantically attempting to put the site back together

6. Log in again, and notice that it still doesnt work, days later.

7. Panic.

8. Depression.

9. Acceptance.

10. Later in life (which may take days), log in for kicks and giggles, and notice that, surprisingly, the site is up again.

11. Restart your account and restablish your old handle (This brings a soothing feeling to others who read your handle)

12. Cherrish the moments that HAIF is online, and never take it for granted again.

To be honest, Dallas vs. Houston's all in fun. It's not a matter of "who's better". It's a matter of wanting to "compete", because let's face it, friendly competition forces both sides to improve themselves more. It raises the standard, and as a result, Dallas AND Houston both look better and better.

I go to Dallas for business every couple months, and I gotta say that some of those regular office buildings between the Galleria area and Frisco on the Tollway look top-notch. I'm impressed. Usually, when I think of a 15-story building, I don't expect much in the architecture, but Dallas seems to have set the bar with some of those buildings there.

I guess I'm not quite ready to start vacuuming each other's @!%$ 's just yet. (Insert Pulp Fiction Reference). Besides, it all gets a little too plastic and fake without the true spirit of animosity. It starts to become a little, well,

I just ripped one.

>

I don't know her name, but I've seen her wear a green turtle neck. She has dark hair, skinny, and like I said; she is very polite.

You arent by chance confusing the owner of La Carafe and Warrens, are you?

I wont mention her name out of respect for privacy. But if it is her, yes she is a very nice person.

Can we say 'pedestrian friendly'?

I really don't get the Galleria. There's the Galleria itself, and the surrounding development around Post Oak - but do people circulate around the area? No. They drive to a destination, then leave.

It's horrible. Am I the only one who notices that crossing Westheimer or Post Oak on foot ranks as an Extreme Sport? Does anyone shop outside the Galleria itself without first getting in their cars and finding other parking spaces a few hundred yards away? To cross a street on foot...well! How bizarre. Get in your car, and hope there's another parking space there, a block away. Unless you're awfully brave....and I don't see very many brave people.

No. Bad as automotive traffic is already, I do hope it becomes worse. Maybe then people will insist on dedicated pedestrian crosswalks. People already walk quite a distance to their cars, and spend time finding parking spaces - couldn't the same time and effort be put to better use by making the whole area more pedestrian friendly? Wouldn't everyone benefit?

I think the nature of the Galleria will always be at odds with perdestiran traffic with the outside world. Mainly, because there is a sense of being surrounded by masses of parking garages, or so it seems. If I had the inlkling to visit other stores outside the galleria, I know it means having to walk through dark garages, that I am never quite certain how to exit. Heck, the galleria is so massive you sometimes feel you are in an enclosed other city, and leaving it is more like a day trip. That, combined with the feeling that, surely, whatever I want or need that day, can be found somewhere inside the Galleria, so that you pretty much decide there is no need to take the day trip outside the city of galleria. I wish there was a pedestrian scene for shopping in that area, because it allready has the critical mass of people who are there for that reason. But when you go to the galleria, I dont feel the urge like I would in say downtown. downtown, for some reason, seems to be begging for pedestrian shopping outside. But that's another topic.

Did you ever get the feeling that you were actually a character in some show? That you actually were in it? It dawned on me: we are all internet characters on an internet show, with the world sitting in front of computers instead of television sets, watching and enjoying plots and drama and everything. The main characters may be Redscare and MidtowCoog and Editor and Dibigtex, and several other main characters. And just maybe, I play a supporting role. Yet none of us are being paid for this. So the

Now i don't know that this explanation is all about. I thought you made a funny, but your explanation killed the joke.

Yea, but it was funny the first time. So it still worked.

Wish I understood what that's supposed to mean. And although I don't totally get it, the mentioning of the Port of Dallas was pretty funny.

The phrase

Well, we got 5 words into the thread before a Houston is better than Dallas post. Things are looking up.

Jason

Four (4) words, not five. I believe things started "looking up" right around the word "but". Things are just fine as they are: these "issues" you ellude to are what I would call "charm".

[sigh]

Well, Guess I'll just pack my bags and go home.

[Later that day, 2112 is seen boarding a ship at the Port of Dallas. Where he was headed, no one could say.]

I'm not going to bounce him for flaming. I think he's gone overboard with his defense, but I guess passion is a good thing.

I'm going to really make him steam by NOT responding to his posts. That'll probably drive him nuts.

If he wants to really do something to promote Houston's image, then maybe he should cough up $7k a year to keep HAIF alive like I do.

Passion is a good thing, and I think Houston19514 is just expressing some of that in this forum. I know that I have occasionally gone off on some poster who struck my nerve - usually related to Latin American cultures in this city and things like that - and when I read back at my responses to some poster, I sometimes wish I had tamed it down a bit. And then I remember the original thing that got me going off on someone here and remember that I was not the only one going off the handle, and that I was just responding to it. But in the end, this forum is filled with people who love this city and want to make it as great as it can possibly be. And Houston19514 always seems to be one of it's greatest supporters around here.

I was amazed last night - as I flew in from Philadelphia - after having been quite jealous of that city's amazing urban landscape, with 150 year old brownstones cramming the city, with urban grit and density to die for...my jealousy was quickly erased as we descended into Houston and Hobby airport...over what seemed to me a hundred miles of city that didn

I have a lot of respect for the great urban cities of this nation, and when I say that I pretty much mean NYC, Chicago, maybe SF, probably Boston, etc. I'm not impressed too much with LA because it is so spread out. And yes, I love what Houston has done these last hundred fifty years or so with what essentially is a flood-prone swampland. And we should all be proud of what we have become and what this city will become in the future. What I dont have a lot of respect for are ingrown toe-nails. That's one of the reasons that I drink. Be that as it may, the bottom line is that the editor could shut my postings down whenever he damn pleases, and as such, I opt for reservation in postings of what really is on my mine, right now.

Jim, it's good to see you bringing it back. I'll have to stop by and say hi, and maybe pay my tab now that I have a real job. BTW, is my rhodes piano still upstairs? If not, no biggie, I forgot about it long ago.

So that was your piano I would play on? I played the one downtstairs, if that is the same one you are talking about.

found this neat picture in the houston architectural survey (